History Literature / GentlemenPreferBlondes

* HideYourPregnancy: [[inuniverse]] In ''But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'', Lorelei abandons her movie career at expectant motherhood, alluding to the example of a movie actress who was discovered to be pregnant halfway through filming, which got to the point where her scenes had to be filmed "showing nothing but her head sticking up over the top of a bush or looking out of a window."

* {{Catchphrase}}: Lorelei: "...a girl like I..."

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[[caption-width-right:300:''"Diamonds are a girl's best friend."'']]

''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' was a 1925 novel written by Anita Loos. It was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1949; the songs (written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin) included "Little Rock" and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend." The musical version was adapted into a movie in 1953, starring Creator/JaneRussell and Creator/MarilynMonroe. (An earlier silent movie version is lost.) A semi-sequel, ''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'', was released a couple of years later starring Russell and JeanneCrain; it didn't do nearly as well as the first movie.

The story follows two showgirls, and best friends, Dorothy Shaw (Russell) and Lorelei Lee (Monroe). As it starts off, Lorelei and her fiance, Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), were going to travel to France in order to get married. However, since Gus's father, Edmond Sr. (Taylor Holmes), disapproves of Lorelei, he prevents them from going. Despite this, she decides to go anyway, taking Dorothy along with her. Before their trip, Gus tells Lorelei to behave herself while in France or his father might find out and prevent their marriage from even happening. Sure enough, it turns out the old man has hired a detective by the name of Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid) to watch her every move.

While on the boat to Paris, Lorelei meets Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman (Creator/CharlesCoburn), owner of a diamond mine. Intrigued by him, she invites him back to the girls' cabin to flirt with him. Unbeknown to them, however, Ernie spies on and takes pictures of them. Dorothy, whom Ernie is falling for, sees him and tells Lorelei. They concoct a scheme to take the film by drugging the detective and stealing it from him. However, their troubles are not over yet as the two girls soon run into money problems...

* CassandraTruth: When Gus introduces Lorelei to his father, he has trouble believing that she's the Lorelei Lee that Gus wants to marry, since he had previously mistaken a disguised Dorothy for her. Lorelei verifies her identity by pointing at her picture on a cardboard standee for one of their shows.

** In the film: "Thank you ever so!"
* CostumePorn: Lorelei wears a spectacular 1950's-style strapless pink gown (with matching long gloves) during the iconic "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number, and both Lorelei and Dorothy wear chic, high-fashion 1950's-style outfits throughout the film.
* DeadpanSnarker: Dorothy, in the best kind of fast-talking 50's manner.
* DefectingForLove: In the end Mr. Malone [[spoiler:quits working for Esmond Sr.]] for Dorothy.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Frequently. Whenever Lorelei and Dorothy strut into a room, expect half the men in it to wolf-whistle, the other half to simply gawk at them.

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: [[NonIndicativeTitle Actually]] {{Averted}}; Lorelei and Dorothy seem about equally popular with men. If anything, Dorothy has more guys flirting with her because she's less picky.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Several of the girls' non-diamond-inlaid outfits are still pretty glittery.
* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: "Diamonds are a girl's best friend."
* ExtremeDoormat: Gus Esmond, which is [[GoldDigger half the reason]] Lorelei likes him.
-->'''Lorelei:''' He never wins an argument, he does everything I ask, and he's got the money to do it with!
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The song "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" in the movie has Jane Russell, in a low cut top, with a bunch of half-dressed guys at the gym who steadfastly ignore her. ''Film/TheCelluloidCloset'' presents this as a textbook case of subverting the Code, and offers [[CampGay an]] [[IncompatibleOrientation alternate]] [[SorryImGay reason]] why she's ignored.
* GoldDigger: Lorelei's principal attribute.
-->'''Mr. Edmonds:''' Are you going to stand there and tell me that you're ''not'' marrying my son for his money?\\
'''Lorelei:''' ''(outraged)'' It's true!\\
'''Mr. Edmonds:''' Then why are you marrying him?\\
'''Lorelei:''' I'm marrying him for '''''your''''' money!
* GlobalIgnorance:
-->'''Lorelei:''' Excuse me, but what is the way to Europe, France?
-->'''Dorothy:''' Honey, France is in Europe.
-->'''Lorelei:''' Well, who said it wasn't?
-->'''Dorothy:''' Well... you wouldn't say you wanted to go to North America, Mexico.
-->'''Lorelei:''' If that's where I wanted to go, I would.

* HelpImStuck: In the movie, when Lorelei attempts to escape a locked room via a porthole window, she gets stuck due to her hips being too wide.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Lorelie and Dorothy remain the closest of friends throughout the film and stay steadfastly loyal to each other. Notably, while they marry their boyfriends in a double wedding at the end of the film, the final shot is a close-up of just the two of them, demonstrating that their friendship is still the most important relationship in each of their lives.
* HomoeroticSubtext:
** The famous "Ain't Anyone Here for Love?" musical number, in which muscular dudes wearing nothing but [[NudeColoredClothes flesh-colored swim trunks]] dance and prance around, while Jane Russell sings about how none of them will pay attention to her, reeks of this.
** Then there's the final shot of the movie, in which Lorelei and Dorothy are marrying their respective beaux in a double wedding. The camera zooms in to show only the two of them in their wedding dresses, making it seem as if they are marrying each other.
* InLoveWithTheMark: Played with. Ernie Malone is not a hitman so much as a private detective hired to find some dirt on Lorelei. And while he falls for her best friend rather than Lorelei herself, this still creates complications for his job since he's trying to woo a girl while trying to find incriminating evidence about her best friend, and in the end [[spoiler:he ends up DefectingForLove.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Lorelei's "A girl being pretty is like a man being rich speech" (which is how she wins over Edmonds Snr), in which she points out that she just wants all the same things with Gus that Edmonds Snr would insist upon his own daughter (if he had one) having in a husband (see the Quotes page).
* KarmaHoudini: Lorelei Lee. She never has to answer for [[spoiler:getting caught flirting with other men while away from her fiance, nor manipulating her new beau into stealing his wife's diamond tiara for her, nor refusing to give it back until compelled by law, nor roping her friend Dorothy into her ensuing financial and legal troubles]].
** Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman. He steals his wife's diamond tiara to give to a young woman he openly flirted with in front of her, leaves the girl to face the wrath of his wife after confronted about it, then [[spoiler: steals the tiara back from the girl just as his wife is about to press charges, then tries to leave the girl to get arrested and possibly jailed while he flees the country. In the end, he is merely forced to give it back to "Lorelei" in court so she can officially give it back to him.]]
* MarryForLove: What Dorothy plans to do ([[ReallyGetsAround eventually]]), much to [[GoldDigger Lorelei's]] disapproval.
* MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication: The plan Dorothy and Lorelei use to get the film from Mr Malone.
-->'''Dorothy:''' If we can't empty his pockets in ten minutes we're not worth-ee of the name 'woman'.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" has Jane Russell, in a low cut top, with a bunch of half-dressed guys at the gym who steadfastly ignore her. ''Film/TheCelluloidCloset'' presents this as a textbook case of sneaking in objectionable material, and offers [[CampGay an]] [[IncompatibleOrientation alternate]] [[SorryImGay reason]] why she's ignored.
** ''Olivia Newton-John'' did an {{Homage}} with "Let's Get Physical", and wasn't subtle about who the bodybuilders were attracted to.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Piggy, despite a couple of "I say"s and "eh what"s, doesn't sound British.
* NudeColoredClothes: The athletes in "[[http://youtu.be/pthokb18V7U Ain't There Anyone Here for Love]]?" and if it weren't for the black lines you might think they were doing it in the buff. This was almost definitely intentional.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Lorelei is really good at playing the part of DumbBlonde but she does have some brains to her, like when Dorothy needs a moment to realise Lorelei has the room overheated for a reason.
-->'''Lorelei''': I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it.
* OddFriendship: As Mr. Malone points out, it's odd that two such drastically different women (smart and sassy Dorothy verses ditzy and flirty Lorelei) can be such close friends.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Lorelei wears a pink dress for the "Diamonds" number.

* PrettyInMink: Several, starting with ermine coats the girls are holding in the first scene.
* ProperLady:
-->'''Lorelei:''' Please dear, a lady never tells that her feet hurt.
* ReallyGetsAround: Dorothy Shaw (if nabbing half the Olympic swim team and inviting them to her room before the cruise even takes off is any indication), at least before she meets Mr. Malone.
* RuleOfPool: [[https://youtu.be/io8ILM7Ey6U?t=8 Dorothy gets knocked into the swimming pool]] at the end of "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?". This was ''[[Main/PlayedForLaughs completely accidental]]'', one of the dancers knocked Jane Russell into the pool while diving over her and the director decided to leave it in due to RuleOfFunny (and probably because the following improv from everyone, including the dancers, completely saved the shoot).
* SettingUpdate: The novel and the stage musical take place in the 1920s, but the film version takes place in what was then the present day.
* ShaggyDogStory: Of sorts. Why bother about all the spying if in the end it takes just a bit of Lorelei's charm to persuade Gus and his father?
* [[BrosBeforeHoes Sisters Before Misters]]: Dorothy may be falling for Malone, but she'll always put Lorelei first without a moment's hesitation.
* SomethingBlues: "Homesick Blues"
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Dorothy's "type," according to Lorelei. As it so happens, Ernie Malone fits the bill.
* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: When Lorelei gets put on trial for taking Piggy's wife's diamond tiara, Dorothy disguises herself as Lorelei and takes her place in the courthouse to buy Lorelei time while Lorelei tries to recover the tiara. One of the things she does to stall the court proceedings is to break into a reprise of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend."
* TriumphantReprise: The movie begins with Lorelei and Dorothy singing, "Two Little Girls From Little Rock", which details how much trouble a young woman with a simple background can have finding a decent man. [[spoiler:They sing it again at their double wedding, but proclaim that they succeeded in finding the men of their dreams.]]
* TrueCompanions: Dorothy and Lorelei stick together through thick and thin. Especially Dorothy, who [[spoiler:stays with Lorelei even after she's been caught stealing a diamond tiara, stays with her penniless in France after her fiance's father cuts her off for it, chooses Lorelei over Molone even after she's fallen for him, and risks jail by impersonating Lorelei when she's brought to court for the said theft]].
* TheUnfairSex: The film seems to side with Lorelei over Mr. Esmond for cancelling the girl's credit and rescinding their hotel reservation, even though the reason why this happened was because she was blatantly flirting with another man in order to take something that wasn't hers.

* {{Homage}}: Music/OliviaNewtonJohn's "Physical" is one to "Ain't Anyone Here For Love?"

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* RuleOfPool: [[https://youtu.be/io8ILM7Ey6U?t=8 Dorothy gets knocked into the swimming pool]] at the end of "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?". This was ''[[Main/PlayedForLaughs completely accidental]]'', one of the dancers knocked Jane Russell into the pool while diving over her and the director decided to leave it in due to RuleOfFunny.

* RuleOfPool: Dorothy gets knocked into the swimming pool at the end of "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?". This was completely accidental, one of the dancers knocked Jane Russell into the pool while diving over her and the director decided to leave it in due to RuleOfFunny.

** Also this:
--> '''Olympic Team Member:''' Suppose the ship hit an iceberg and sank. Who would you save from drowning?\\
'''Another Olympic Team Member:''' Those girls couldn't drown.

** Though considering about six of the men (out of around two dozen) couldn't get enough of her the first night in her room and again at dinner, this would suggest at least some were bi.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

The story follows two showgirls, and best friends, Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) and Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe). As it starts off Lorelei and her fiance, Gus Esmond, were going to travel to France in order to get married. However, since Gus's father, Edmond Sr., disapproves of Lorelei, he prevents them from going. Despite this, she decides to go anyway, taking Dorothy along with her. Before their trip, Gus tells Lorelei to behave herself while in France or his father might find out and prevent their marriage from even happening. Sure enough, it turns out the old man has hired a detective by the name of Ernie Malone to watch her every move.

While on the boat to Paris, Lorelei meets Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman, owner of a diamond mine. Intrigued by him, she invites him back to the girls' cabin to flirt with him. Unbeknown to them, however, Ernie spies on and takes pictures of them. Dorothy, whom Ernie is falling for, sees him and tells Lorelei. They concoct a scheme to take the film by drugging the detective and stealing it from him. However, their troubles are not over yet as the two girls soon run into money problems...

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** When Lorelei sings "These rocks don't lose their shape," she's gesturing to her chest.
** The homo-eroticism of "Ain't Anyone Here For Love?" isn't subtext -- it's ''text''.
** The female chandelier in "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" is favored by those into BDSM.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" has Jane Russell, in a low cut top, with a bunch of half-dressed guys at the gym who steadfastly ignore her. ''Film/TheCelluloidCloset'' presents this as a textbook case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar, and offers [[CampGay an]] [[IncompatibleOrientation alternate]] [[SorryImGay reason]] why she's ignored.

* NudeColoredClothes: The athletes in "[[http://youtu.be/pthokb18V7U Ain't There Anyone Here for Love]]?" and if it weren't for the black lines you might think they were doing it in the buff. [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar This was almost definitely intentional]].

* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: When Lorelei gets put on trial for taking Piggy's wife's diamond tiara, Dorothy disguises as Lorelei and takes her place in the courthouse. One of Dorothy's airheaded actions involves asking a juror if he's had the pleasure of hearing her sing. After he says that he hasn't, she breaks out into a reprise of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" to show herself off.

** Though considering about six of the men (out of around two dozen) couldn't get enough of her the first night in her room and again at dinner, this would suggest at least some were [[BiTheWay another trope]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: Lorelei's "A girl being pretty is like a man being rich speech" (which is how she wins over Edmonds Snr), in which she points out that she just wants all the same things from Gus that Edmonds Snr would insist upon his own daughter (if he had one) having in a husband.